Christmas Eve day Adam worked a portion of it so the kids and I held down the home front. (It's worth noting, without fail, if given the opportunity to choose his own clothes, no matter the outside temperature, Lawson will alway choose these map shorts and this sleeveless Thomas the train t-shirt to wear).
The kids did lots of playing upstairs while I prepped food for Christmas day. It was one of those days that kept "giving" ya know what I mean? It started with Emerson wanting to "help" me cook (which is ideally really cute and fun, but usually never goes without some kind of mishap). I left the kitchen just briefly and to my chagrin when I returned I found he'd pulled the egg carton off onto the floor and cracked a good 6 eggs…lovely. Then there was his faux pas with the tupperware full of Chocolate Texas Sheet Cake-- all of which ended up squished on the tile and it all culminated with him throwing his lunch plate on the floor. It was then that this Mama, who by the way had been going back and forth between spankings, time outs, the KitchenAid mixer and the oven all morning long, was completely exhausted and more then ready for nap time. So that's where he went, and that's where he stayed (thankfully) for the next several hours. Praise the Lord, Emmanuel, God with us, was answering my desperate arrow prayers, cause I was desperate for a reprieve…I love that little guy but he is so INTENSE!!
After our very eventful day you can imagine the fear and trepidation that I felt in just thinking of taking him to our churches candle light Christmas Eve service. But I'm happy to report Emerson sat quietly in Adam's lap and as long as we kept the suckers and goldfish coming, he was more then satisfied which allowed me to really enjoy the service as I prepped my heart for the real meaning of the season, the gift of Jesus to me. Oh how grateful I am for Emmanuel, God with us! (This was the best pic I could get while holding Ava Jane in my lap and trying hard not to burn her with my candle.)
We came home and had a low-key, leftover, lasagna dinner and put some very excited kids to bed. Adam and I had NO idea just how excited they were until until about 4:15 when they came into our bedroom ready to open presents and eat breakfast. Adam got up with them 3 different times between then and 6:45 when we finally said "ok". They were thrilled with all they received!
We had a Happy Birthday Jesus party, after breakfast, and lit the last of our Advent candles. Each week as we prepared for Christmas the kids genuinely listened pretty good and enjoyed lighting the candles.
The boys have thoroughly enjoyed the Wii, it's been fun doing the Dance Party and playing each other in Mario Kart…we will definitely have to set some time constraints for this new activity.
Ava Jane was less than impressed with the games, she thought reading would be a much better option!
We had brunch with Adam's side of the family, opened gifts and played a few rounds of Balderdash, it was fun all being together. Here's the 7 cousins all together.
For dinner we joined my family at my parents house.
All the cousins…
Some of my favorite people...Gigi and Ava Jane.
Have you ever seen a cuter little Santa's helper?
We are learning how to use the self timer on the camera…I thought this one turned out pretty well. As long as we put it in front of the TV with a movie going, we were pretty much assured to get all the kids looking.
Hope you and yours had a very Merry Christmas spending time together. I love all that comes with Christmas: the lights, music, smells and sweet treats. I do believe I will savor the last few days with the glow of the tree in the evenings after the kids are down and the house is quiet. We had a wonderful Christmas season and look forward to what the New Year holds.
So glad y'all had a great Christmas! Praying for a blessed 2014 for your sweet family!
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